On 7 October, a coordination meeting was held between the Government, regions, and communities on the implementation of the Frontline Regions Support Programme. The meeting aimed to agree on further steps and identify additional tools to help people in frontline communities access housing, employment, education, healthcare, and other essential services.

Oleksii Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine – Minister for Development of Communities and Territories, as well as Deputy Ministers Oleksii Riabykin and Kostiantyn Kovalchuk, attended the meeting, along with heads of regional military administrations and representatives of communities in the frontline regions.

Representatives from the relevant ministries and authorities also joined the discussion, including the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Energy, the Pension Fund of Ukraine, and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

‘Communities near the front line live in the most difficult conditions. People there work, raise children, and rebuild their cities amid constant shelling. We must create normal living conditions for them, including housing, employment opportunities, and basic services. This is the goal of the Frontline Regions Support Programme,’ said Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine – Minister for Development of Communities and Territories Oleksii Kuleba.

The main areas of focus that are already in place are:

Affordable housing:

• Expansion of the ‘eOselia’ programme, which finances 70 per cent of the down payment on a mortgage for IDPs and people living in frontline territories. As of 3 October, 99 applications had been submitted, three had already been financed, and 96 were being processed.

Social support:

• Solid fuel payments: UAH 19,400 for each household;
• Provision of free electricity: 100 kW per person, 300 kW per household;
• Increased payment for socially useful work: up to UAH 16,000.

Education:

• Free meals for 674,668 children: all pupils in frontline regions and grades 1–4 throughout Ukraine;
• UAH 764 million allocated for the purchase of about 200 school buses;
• Modernisation of school canteens: UAH 958.7 million allocated;
• Grants for higher education for 1,100 applicants from the Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Mykolaiv regions.

Safety:

• Construction of 96 protective structures in educational institutions;
• Strengthening fire protection in 68 educational institutions.

Support for business:

• Reservation of 100 per cent of military-duty employees at critically important enterprises;
• Expansion of the ‘5–7–9’ credit programme: extension of the loan term to 5 years. In 2025, 3,000 loans were issued for more than UAH 14 billion;
• The ‘Own Business’ grant programme: limits increased to UAH 500,000;
• ‘Grants for Recovery’ programme: up to UAH 16 million for modernisation and replacement of equipment.

Support for farmers:

• Subsidy for farmers in combat zones: UAH 1,000 per hectare;
• 30 per cent compensation for growing planting material;
• Grants for orchards and greenhouses: up to UAH 400,000/ha with compensation of up to 80 per cent of costs.

Healthcare:

• Bonuses for medical workers in rural and remote communities: 20 per cent of salary. A total of 168 providers received bonuses totalling UAH 22.5 million;
• Salary increases for emergency medical workers;
• One-time cash assistance of UAH 200,000 for graduate interns who found employment in areas of active combat operations. Twelve applications were submitted.

During the discussion, the government officials focused on specific requests from the frontline communities. These are needs related to basic things: heat, water, housing, roads, and stable operation of utilities.

Following a preliminary meeting in September, some of the requests have already been addressed. For example, families of internally displaced persons received assistance to purchase solid fuel; temporary housing for displaced persons in the Kharkiv region was repaired; and funds were allocated from the reserve fund to cover water supply debts in communities in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Other issues are still being worked on. These include the creation of a mechanism to insure military risks for businesses, updating the rules for treasury payments, improving the accounting of destroyed property, and supporting enterprises that provide critical services in communities.

‘The programme to support frontline communities has evolved into a practical tool, rather than merely a list of intentions. We are seeing concrete results, which is especially important ahead of the difficult heating season. The next aid package should consolidate these decisions and provide communities with greater predictability in their planning,’ said Oleksii Riabykin, Deputy Minister for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine.

The Ministry is currently working with regions and communities to develop a new support package. Priorities include repairing critical infrastructure, restoring evacuation routes, arranging bomb shelters in schools, expanding programmes for medical professionals, and continuing fixed electricity tariffs for the population.